• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.77-87
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• 2015

Vendor Managed Inventory(VMI) is a distribution channel system where the inventory at the retailer is monitored and managed by the manufacturer or vendor. By pushing the decision making responsibility further up the supply chain and centralizing the replenishment decision, the vendor can help the entire supply chain be more competitive. The purpose of this research is to explore the factors influencing the adoption of VMI by Korean manufacturers. This research proposes the IT readiness, operating cost, and information sharing as antecedents of burden for VMI, and collected the survey responses from the small-to-medium manufacturers. The statistical results indicate that only the operating cost has a significant impact on the adoption of VMI. However it has also been found that the IT readiness and information sharing have a significant effect on the operating cost. Thus indirectly influence the adoption of VMI. As a conclusion, the academic and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.265-279
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• 1993

The channel of distribution exists for the purpose of moving product from the manufactuerer to the final consumer. In order to satisfy consumer needs, channels provide for the those products to arrive at the right place, at the right time and in the quantity, quality and price desired. Currently, there has been an emerging interest in the improvement of distribution system in many areas of industries and Korean government because of a market liberalizatiion begun at 1989 and still has processed step by step. In the wave of market liberalization, an understanding of the channel of distribution and structure would be very crucial when developing the opportunities of competitive advantages in Korean apparel industry. The purposes of this study were to investigate the determinants of the distribution channel and to identify how to respond to the market liberalization for developing the possible future strategies in the apparel industry. Data for this study were obtained from interviews with managers in apparel company in addition to a questionnaire mailed to over 106 middle management position of apparel company. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The results of this study were summarized as follows. 1. In the distribution channel of the apparel industry, a vertical marketing system, comprising producer, apparel company, retailer, prevailed without intermediaries such as wholesalers or vendors. Especially, the apparel company controlled marketing channel members. This type of system may reflect added product cost and may be not advantageous to retailers and consumers because most apparel companies are responsible for its own transfortation, storage and stocks after season. 2. In the view of market liberalization, most apparrel companies showed double-edged viewpoints. In terms of positive aspect, it would give stimulus to broaden variety of fashion merchandise and to improve product quality of fashion merchanise which were the most disadvantageous factors in competing with oversea's brands. In terms of negative aspect, it would bring the bankruptcy of small or medium sized apparel firms and the foreign products' penetration in domestic market. From this study, severel recommedations were suggested forward to improve the present condition in apparel industry. They included eliminating the power of apparel company and reinforcing middlemen for more efficient distribution system and for satisfying consumer needs in rapidly changing environment. Also it included government supports, reinforcement of information system, improvement in channel structure, and career development program in conjunction with apparel companies and academic society for improving scientific management and future potential strategies in Korean apparal industry.

• Agribusiness and Information Management
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

Introduction: To analyze the impact of marketing losses on efficiency in transacting banana in Kurnool district of SRZ in Andhra Pradesh and to assess the opinions of the farmers on the constraints in transacting banana. Research back ground, Materials and Methods: The study relies exclusively on primary information obtained from the banana farmers of Kurnool District. Purposive sampling procedure was followed for the selection of the study area. Top two mandals in the district and top two villages in each mandal are selected in accordance with the area under cultivation of banana. Probability proportion to size was followed regarding the selection of sample farmers and accordingly 60 marginal, 37 small and 23 other farmers were selected and thereby, the total sample size was 120. Result and Discussion: Three marketing channels were identified in the marketing of banana in Kurnool district viz., Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Local-exporter ${\rightarrow}$ Wholesaler ${\rightarrow}$ Retailer ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-I), Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Wholesaler ${\rightarrow}$ Cart-vendor ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-II) and Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Juice-holder ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-III). With the inclusion of marketing losses in the price spread analysis of banana in all the three channels, the marketing costs of all the intermediaries were increased and thereby, the farmer's share in consumer's rupee and Net Marketing Margins of the agencies are on the decline. So, without inclusion of marketing losses, the farmer's share in consumer's rupee and Net Marketing Margins of all the agencies are overvalued. The higher the marketing losses, the more is the negative impact on farmer's net selling price, net marketing margins of the intermediaries and marketing efficiency. The sample farmers are facing major problems in marketing of banana like frequent price fluctuations, unorganized marketing and lack of transportation facilities on priority basis. Suggestions: It is suggested to educate the farmers regarding the optimum maturity index for harvest, use of mechanical harvesters, proper placement of fruits during storage and ripening, better packaging and cushioning technologies to absorb shocks during transportation, strengthening of storage facilities and transport facilities, encourage co-operative marketing etc., to promote marketing efficiency of banana in the study area.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.121-140
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• 2006

This study has explored a number of problems arising from distribution restrictions and the ways to improve efficiency. As matters stand, since the cooperation between larger stores and local retailers is limited due to the nature of the market, the current situations call for bottom up restrictions such as the active promotion of smaller merchants and traditional marketplaces, the enhancement of the competitiveness of smaller merchants and manufacturers through the establishment of a customized consulting support program for individual shops, and the continual support for traditional marketplaces with facilities and management modernization. The government should maintain the optimal balance between the efficiency and effectiveness of the distribution industry through such bottom up restrictions as shown above, rather than the top down restrictions primarily relying on the hurdles to the establishment of stores. The problems raised in this study include: (i) the decline of traditional marketplaces and the alleged over saturation of stores; (ii) the possible abuse of indiscreet restrictive measures; (iii) the harmful effects of the monopoly or oligopoly by larger distributors; and (iv) the lack of systematic programs to promote development. The ways to improve efficiency are: (i) the establishment of the policies to specialize and nurture traditional marketplaces; (ii) the effort to prevent the injury arising from monopoly; (iii) the two tire strategies for the coexistence of larger and smaller businesses; and (iv) the administration of joint sales promotion and training.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-25
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• 2008

Ⅰ. Introduction Retailers in the 21st century are being told that future retailers are those who can execute seamless multi-channel access. The reason is that retailers should be where shoppers want them, when they want them anytime, anywhere and in multiple formats. Multi-channel access is considered one of the top 10 trends of all business in the next decade (Patricia T. Warrington, et al., 2007) And most firms use both direct and indirect channels in their markets. Given this trend, we need to evaluate a channel equity more systematically than before as this issue is expected to get more attention to consumers as well as to brand managers. Consumers are becoming very much confused concerning the choice of place where they shop for durable goods as there are at least 6-7 retail options. On the other hand, manufacturers have to deal with category killers, their dealers network, Internet shopping malls, and other avenue of distribution channels and they hope their retail channel behave like extensions of their own companies. They would like their products to be foremost in the retailer's mind-the first to be proposed and effectively communicated to potential customers. To enable this hope to come reality, they should know each channel's advantages and disadvantages from consumer perspectives. In addition, customer satisfaction is the key determinant of retail customer loyalty. However, there are only a few researches regarding the effects of shopping satisfaction and perceptions on consumers' channel choices and channels. The purpose of this study was to assess Korean consumers' channel choice and satisfaction towards channels they prefer to use in the case of electronic goods shopping. Korean electronic goods retail market is one of good example of multi-channel shopping environments. As the Korea retail market has been undergoing significant structural changes since it had opened to global retailers in 1996, new formats such as hypermarkets, Internet shopping malls and category killers have arrived for the last decade. Korean electronic goods shoppers have seven major channels : (1)category killers (2) hypermarket (3) manufacturer dealer shop (4) Internet shopping malls (5) department store (6) TV home-shopping (7) speciality shopping arcade. Korean retail sector has been modernized with amazing speed for the last decade. Overall summary of major retail channels is as follows: Hypermarket has been number 1 retailer type in sales volume from 2003 ; non-store retailing has been number 2 from 2007 ; department store is now number 3 ; small scale category killers are growing rapidly in the area of electronics and office products in particular. We try to evaluate each channel's equity using a consumer survey. The survey was done by telephone interview with 1000 housewife who lives nationwide. Sampling was done according to 2005 national census and average interview time was 10 to 15 minutes. Ⅱ. Research Summary We have found that seven major retail channels compete with each other within Korean consumers' minds in terms of price and service. Each channel seem to have its unique selling points. Department stores were perceived as the best electronic goods shopping destinations due to after service. Internet shopping malls were perceived as the convenient channel owing to price checking. Category killers and hypermarkets were more attractive in both price merits and location conveniences. On the other hand, manufacturers dealer networks were pulling customers mainly by location and after service. Category killers and hypermarkets were most beloved retail channel for Korean consumers. However category killers compete mainly with department stores and shopping arcades while hypermarkets tend to compete with Internet and TV home shopping channels. Regarding channel satisfaction, the top 3 channels were service-driven retailers: department stores (4.27); dealer shop (4.21); and Internet shopping malls (4.21). Speciality shopping arcade(3.98) were the least satisfied channels among Korean consumers. Ⅲ. Implications We try to identify the whole picture of multi-channel retail shopping environments and its implications in the context of Korean electronic goods. From manufacturers' perspectives, multi-channel may cause channel conflicts. Furthermore, inter-channel competition draws much more attention as hypermarkets and category killers have grown rapidly in recent years. At the same time, from consumers' perspectives, 'buy where' is becoming an important buying decision as it would decide the level of shopping satisfaction. We need to develop the concept of 'channel equity' to manage multi-channel distribution effectively. Firms should measure and monitor their prime channel equity in regular basis to maximize their channel potentials. Prototype channel equity positioning map has been developed as follows. We expect more studies to develop the concept of 'channel equity' in the future.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.7-16
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• 2012

Despite the enforcement of SSM control laws such as 'the Law of Developing the Distribution Industry (LDDI)' and 'the Law of Promoting Mutual Cooperation between Large and Small/medium Enterprises (LPMC)' stipulating the business adjustment system, the number of super-supermarkets (SSMs) has ever been expanding in Korea. In France, however, Super Centers are being regulated most strongly and directly in the whole Europe viewing that there is not a single SSM in Paris, which is emphasized to be the outcome from French government's regulation exerted on the opening of large scale retail stores. In France, the authority to approve store opening is deeply centralized and the store opening regulation is a socio-economic regulation driven by economic laws whereas EU strongly regulates the distribution industry. To control the French distribution industry, such seven laws and regulations as Commission départementale d'urbanisme commercial guidelines (CDLIC) (1969), the Royer Law (1973), the Doubin Law (1990), the Sapin Law (1993), the Raffarin Law (1996), solidarite et renouvellement urbains (SRU) (2000), and Loi de modernisation de l'économie (LME) (2009) have been promulgated one by one since the amendment of the Fontanet guidelines, through which commercial adjustment laws and regulations have been complemented and reinforced while regulatory measures have been taken. Even in the course of forming such strong regulatory laws, InterMarche, the largest supermarket chain in France, has been in existence as a global enterprise specialized in retail distribution with over 4,000 stores in Europe. InterMarche's business can be divided largely into two segments of food and non-food. As a supermarket chain, InterMarche's food segment has 2,300 stores in Europe and as a hard-discounter store chain in France, Netto has 420 stores. Restaumarch is a chain of traditional family restaurants and the steak house restaurant chain of Poivre Rouge has 4 restaurants currently. In addition, there are others like Ecomarche which is a supermarket chain for small and medium cities. In the non-food segment, the DIY and gardening chain of Bricomarche has a total of 620 stores in Europe. And the car-related chain of Roady has a total of 158 stores in Europe. There is the clothing chain of Veti as well. In view of InterMarche's management strategies, since its distribution strategy is to sell goods at cheap prices, buying goods cheap only is not enough. In other words, in order to sell goods cheap, it is all important to buy goods cheap, manage them cheap, systemize them cheap, and transport them cheap. In quality assurance, InterMarche has guaranteed the purchase safety for consumers by providing its own private brand products. InterMarche has 90 private brands of its own, thus being the retailer with the largest number of distributor brands in France. In view of its IT service strategy, InterMarche is utilizing a high performance IT system so as to obtainas much of the market information as possible and also to find out the best locations for opening stores. In its global expansion strategy of international alliance, InterMarche has established the ALDIS group together with the distribution enterprises of both Spain and Germany in order to expand its food purchase, whereas in the non-food segment, it has established the ARENA group in alliance with 11 international distribution enterprises. Such strategies of InterMarche have been intended to find out the consumer needs for both price and quality of goods and to secure the purchase and supply networks which are closely localized. It is necessary to cope promptly with the constantly changing circumstances through being unified with relevant regions and by providing diversified customer services as well. In view of the InterMarche's positive policy for promoting local partnerships as well as the assistance for enhancing the local economic structure, implications are existing for those retail distributors of our country.